도시/농촌의 공간 충격과 속물주의 비판 - 이문구의 『산너머 남촌』 연구 -

Abstract

Lee Moon-goo can be mentioned as the writer who made an in-depth description of the rural problems in the field in the 1970s-1980s. Lee Moon-goo criticized the agricultural policies of the Park Jeong-hee regime based on ‘the farmers’ view of the world’ through “Our Village” (1981), and examined the question of life in a larger framework by looking organically at the relation between nature and farmers. In order to restore the farming community, he also reminded people of how important the sensibility of solidarity based on the agriculture-first principle was. The work which is noteworthy together with “Our Village” is his second full-length novel, “Southern Village across the Mountain” (199). Despite the fact that the novel actively reflected the circumstances of the times of the mid-1980s so much that Lee Moon-goo himself referred to the work as ‘part of my face in the 1980s’, the full-fledged discussion on this work has been relatively insufficient. The “Southern Village across the Mountain”, which was a novel written for farmer readers, was published serially in the Farmers’ Newspaper from January to December in 1984. Since it is the novel written being conscious of the readers who belong to a particular category, the “Southern Village across the Mountain” has been categorized into the novel reflecting social conditions. The plot of the “Southern Village across the Mountain” is weak since its narration develops into connection of episodes and characters and events from its latter part on. Although it contains rich realities, it assumes the attitude of the agriculture-first principle which is widely different from embodiment of farmers from the viewpoint of national people’s movement which was being discussed at that time. When viewed from the social science view point, it lacks ‘prospects’ or ‘hope’, so the writer’s thoughts appear to be declining. This novel has Lee Moon-jeong as the main character, and actively defends the attitude of living with life, positive attitude toward the value of labor, the spirit of mutual help, and the democratic value of autonomy and self reliance. Lee Moon-jeong’s agriculture-first principle was not the thought that lagged behind but the fundamental view of the world that was not harmonized with the times, and was also a sharp criticism of the snobbish world in the 1980s.He also describes the spatial clash between the urban and rural areas through Yeongdoo’s outing to Seoul. From this part, the aspect of criticism of modern times that lee Moon-goo pursued can be derived. Lee Moon-goo transposed ‘the life of farmers living in compliance with nature’ (agricultural villages) while criticizing ‘the renovation (cities) through self-destruction’, which is a characteristic of modernity. The question is whether the “Southern Village across the Mountain” is showing “the division between what is to be said and what is to be described.” We can judge whether this novel is ‘a novel of social conditions’ by clarifying this point. I found that “Southern Village across the Mountain” has too strong view of the world in agriculture-first principle to be defined as a novel of social conditions, and has the plot of episodes with too slow epic flow to be defined as an introspective novel. In this novel, what is to be said (the agriculture-first principle) is predominant causing the division of what is to be described (realities). Lee Moon-goo’s consciousness of confrontation against the modernity is placed on the basis of this division. In this sense, the “Southern Village across the Mountain” can be defined as more of ‘a farmers’ novel written for the farmer readers than ‘a novel of social condition.’Lee Moon-goo appears to have been confronted with the modern times with an attitude of ‘conforming by being disobedient.’ At the time of writing the “Southern Village across the Mountain” and “Our Village”, Lee Moon-goo, while refusing ‘the desire without the inside’ forced by the capitalistic spirit of the times, was conforming to provision of nature with mutual life of cosmogony.